Copper may fall for a second day in London on concern Europe’s sovereign-debt crisis might spread to Italy, potentially curbing regional economic growth and metals demand. The euro-region’s bailout fund may have to be doubled to cover a crisis in Italy, the European Central Bank said, according to German newspaper Die Welt. It cited unidentified “high ranking” people at central banks. The dollar strengthened, Treasury 10-year yields slipped to this month’s lowest level and equities dropped in Europe and Asia. Italy “is probably the next risk,” said Charles Cooper, an analyst at Oriel Securities Ltd. in London. “It’s one of the larger economies in Europe, and any concerns over that are clearly going to affect the commodities market.” Copper for three-month delivery declined $29, or 0.3 percent, to $9,632 a metric ton by 9:56 a.m. on the London Metal Exchange. Prices had gained as much as 0.5 percent on stronger imports of the metal into China, the world’s biggest consumer. Copper for September delivery fell 0.6 percent to $4.3835 a pound on the Comex in New York. Italy, home to manufacturers including carmaker Fiat SpA (F), was the world’s seventh-biggest copper user in 2010, consuming about 570,000 tons of the metal, according to London-based researcher CRU. The country’s benchmark FTSE MIB share index and Italian 10-year bonds both dropped for a sixth day today. Chinese Imports Chinese copper imports gained 10 percent last month from May to 280,009 tons, customs figures showed yesterday. Shipments increased for the first time in three months as buying from overseas became profitable and supply tightened after consumers drained local stockpiles. “We had general belief that copper imports into China would be up,” Oriel’s Cooper said. “There is a sense of restocking in China to come.” Concern about supply helped LME copper to climb 6.8 percent in the two weeks before this week. Workers at Santiago-based Codelco, the biggest producer, are scheduled to begin the first companywide strike in 18 years today in protest against planned job cuts as management revamps century-old mines in northern Chile. Heavy rains will persist in Chile’s Antofagasta and Coquimbo regions, and some power outages have occurred, the national weather agency said. BHP Billiton Ltd.’s Escondida, the world’s largest copper mine, remained suspended because of rain, union president Jose Vidal said July 8. Bullish Bets Hedge-fund managers and other large speculators increased their net-long positions in New York copper futures in the week ended July 5, according to U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission data. Net-long positions, or bets on higher prices, rose by 8,958 contracts, or 90 percent, from a week earlier. Tin for three-month delivery on the LME fell 0.2 percent to $26,750 a ton. Refined-tin shipments from Indonesia, the world’s largest exporter, surged 55 percent in June from a month earlier, reaching the highest level in more than two years as lower rainfall helped to boost output. Aluminum slid 1 percent to $2,509 a ton and zinc dropped 0.6 percent to $2,341 a ton. Lead declined 1.1 percent to $2,689 a ton and nickel fell 0.9 percent to $23,670 a ton. To contact the reporter on this story: Agnieszka Troszkiewicz in London at atroszkiewic@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Claudia Carpenter at ccarpenter2@bloomberg.net

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